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'''[[Main Page|Home]] * [[Evaluation]] * [[Evaluation of Pieces|of Pieces]] * Bishop versus Knight'''
'''Bishop versus Knight''',
is an often debated topic of the two pieces of similar relative strengths. Traditional thinking has been that the [[Bishop|bishop]] is slighly better in open positions while the [[Knight|knight]] is better in closed positions <ref> [http://www.alibris.com/search/books/author/Steve-Mayer?aid=3252001 Steve Mayer] ('''1997'''). ''Bishop Versus Knight: The verdict''. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batsford_Books Batsford], [http://www.amazon.com/Bishop-Versus-Knight-Steve-Mayer/dp/1879479737 amazon.com]</ref>. However, the [[Bishop Pair|bishop pair]] versus knight and bishop or even more versus two knights yields an extra advantage as demonstrated in the [[Bishop versus Knight#WinningPercantages|winning percentages]] of the C, D, E rows of several material configurations 1 - 6 in [[Mark Sturman|Mark Sturman's]] table.
=Endgame Considerations=
In a minor piece endgame featuring bishop versus knight a couple of special considerations should be taken into account:
* bishop becomes stronger if there are [[Pawn|pawns]] on both wings
* the side with a knight can defend by the means of blockade on the squares that are out of reach for the enemy bishop
* if the side with a knight has a compact pawn mass, then it should place pawns on the squares controlled by enemy bishop to restrict its mobility.
<span id="WinningPercantages"></span>
=Winning Percentages=
of the bishop side as given by [[Mark Sturman]], mining a database of over 350,000 games. Only results with at least 50 games have been recorded <ref>[[Mark Sturman]] ('''1996'''). ''Beware the Bishop Pair''. [[ICGA Journal#19_2|ICCA Journal, Vol. 19, No. 2]], pp. 88</ref> :
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="3" | Piece Configurations
! colspan="7" | Number of pawns on each side
|-
! colspan="3" |
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
|-
! rowspan="5" | 1
! A
| style="text-align:center;" | B vs. N
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.2
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 49.5
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 45.7
| style="text-align:center;" | 43.6
|-
! B
| style="text-align:center;" | BN vs. NN
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 47.2
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.4
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.4
| style="text-align:center;" | 46.8
|-
! C
| style="text-align:center;" | BB vs. NB
| style="text-align:center;" | 58.2
| style="text-align:center;" | 65.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 66.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 67.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 65.2
| style="text-align:center;" | 62.4
| style="text-align:center;" | 58.1
|-
! D
| style="text-align:center;" | BB vs. NN
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 68.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 67.8
| style="text-align:center;" | 69.7
| style="text-align:center;" | 66.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 63.7
|-
! E
| style="text-align:center;" | BBN vs. NNB
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 66.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 64.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 63.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 62.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 59.1
|-
! rowspan="5" | 2
! A
| style="text-align:center;" | BR vs. NR
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.5
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.4
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.7
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.8
| style="text-align:center;" | 46.6
|-
! B
| style="text-align:center;" | BNR vs. NNR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 44.7
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 49.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 46.5
|-
! C
| style="text-align:center;" | BBR vs. NBR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 62.7
| style="text-align:center;" | 64.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 64.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 63.8
| style="text-align:center;" | 61.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 60.8
|-
! D
| style="text-align:center;" | BBR vs. NNR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 62.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 67.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 66.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 65.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 62.8
|-
! E
| style="text-align:center;" | BBNR vs. NNBR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 62.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 63.5
| style="text-align:center;" | 62.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 58.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 56.6
|-
! rowspan="5" | 3
! A
| style="text-align:center;" | BRR vs. NRR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.4
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.2
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 46.2
|-
! B
| style="text-align:center;" | BNRR vs. NNRR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 54.7
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.4
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 49.5
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.8
|-
! C
| style="text-align:center;" | BBRR vs. NBRR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 62.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 63.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 61.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 59.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 56.0
|-
! D
| style="text-align:center;" | BBRR vs. NNRR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 70.7
| style="text-align:center;" | 62.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 58.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 58.9
|-
! E
| style="text-align:center;" | BBNRR vs. NNBRR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 61.2
| style="text-align:center;" | 61.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 60.5
| style="text-align:center;" | 56.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 53.9
|-
! rowspan="5" | 4
! A
| style="text-align:center;" | BQ vs. NQ
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 49.7
| style="text-align:center;" | 49.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.2
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 47.8
| style="text-align:center;" | 45.4
|-
! B
| style="text-align:center;" | BNQ vs. NNQ
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.2
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.0
|-
! C
| style="text-align:center;" | BBQ vs. NBQ
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 55.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 60.5
| style="text-align:center;" | 59.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 58.7
| style="text-align:center;" | 54.5
|-
! D
| style="text-align:center;" | BBQ vs. NNQ
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 70.8
| style="text-align:center;" | 63.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 55.5
| style="text-align:center;" | 54.8
|-
! E
| style="text-align:center;" | BBNQ vs. NNBQ
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 56.4
| style="text-align:center;" | 56.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 56.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 59.5
|-
! rowspan="5" | 5
! A
| style="text-align:center;" | BQR vs. NQR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 53.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.8
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.4
|-
! B
| style="text-align:center;" | BNQR vs. NNQR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 53.8
| style="text-align:center;" | 52.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 52.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.4
|-
! C
| style="text-align:center;" | BBQR vs. NBQR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 58.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 57.4
| style="text-align:center;" | 58.2
| style="text-align:center;" | 57.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 55.5
|-
! D
| style="text-align:center;" | BBQR vs. NNQR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 63.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 60.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 58.5
| style="text-align:center;" | 60.1
|-
! E
| style="text-align:center;" | BBNQR vs. NNBQR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 69.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 57.9
| style="text-align:center;" | 56.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 54.7
| style="text-align:center;" | 56.5
|-
! rowspan="5" | 6
! A
| style="text-align:center;" | BQRR vs. NQRR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 53.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.8
| style="text-align:center;" | 51.1
| style="text-align:center;" | 49.3
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.4
|-
! B
| style="text-align:center;" | BNQRR vs. NNQRR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.5
| style="text-align:center;" | 55.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 50.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 49.5
| style="text-align:center;" | 48.6
|-
! C
| style="text-align:center;" | BBQRR vs. NBQRR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 62.5
| style="text-align:center;" | 58.8
| style="text-align:center;" | 57.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 54.8
| style="text-align:center;" | 53.1
|-
! D
| style="text-align:center;" | BBQRR vs. NNQRR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 63.4
| style="text-align:center;" | 59.7
| style="text-align:center;" | 54.6
| style="text-align:center;" | 54.7
|-
! E
| style="text-align:center;" | BBNQRR vs. NNBQRR
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | *
| style="text-align:center;" | 60.2
| style="text-align:center;" | 57.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 55.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 53.0
| style="text-align:center;" | 52.3
|}
: * = Insufficient data
=See also=
* [[Bishop Pair]]
=Publications=
* [[Gennady Timoshchenko]] ('''1993'''). ''Bishop or Knight''? [[ICGA Journal#16_4|ICCA Journal, Vol. 16, No. 4]]
* [[Mark Sturman]] ('''1995'''). ''Beware The Bishop Pair''. [[Computer Chess Reports]], Vol. 5, No. 2, pp.58 <ref>[https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.games.chess/xFCRAQIqvjw/OVFg2ezWYTYJ Looking for Mark Sturman] by [[Mark Lefler]], [[Computer Chess Forums|rec.games.chess]], July 02, 1995</ref>
* [[Mark Sturman]] ('''1996'''). ''Beware the Bishop Pair''. [[ICGA Journal#19_2|ICCA Journal, Vol. 19, No. 2]]
* [http://www.alibris.com/search/books/author/Steve-Mayer?aid=3252001 Steve Mayer] ('''1997'''). ''Bishop Versus Knight: The verdict''. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batsford_Books Batsford], [http://www.amazon.com/Bishop-Versus-Knight-Steve-Mayer/dp/1879479737 amazon.com]
=References=
<references />
'''[[Evaluation of Pieces|Up one Level]]'''
